Disney to bring Shakespeare in Love to London Stage

While Disney Theatrical got its start in Stage Musicals, they will be breaking the mold with their next production. Disney will bring the Oscar winning 1998 film Shakespeare in Love to the West End of London, known for theater and dining, with the help of producer Sonia Friedman.

There was a rumor a few years ago that Disney was working on a musical version of Shakespeare in Love, but this appears to be a straight play. Tom Stoppard, who co-wrote the original screenplay, is producing the adaption for this version.

What do you think? Should Disney stick with the musical or is branching out to regular plays a good move?

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10 thoughts on “Disney to bring Shakespeare in Love to London Stage”

Thiis is an interesting gambit for Disney. Doing a play within a play with an ‘R’ rating will be something that Disney should pull off with no difficulties. I do hope that the writers and producers remain faithful to the film.

I think it’s great for the expand as a producer. They are attached to Peter and the Starcatcher which is opening on Broadway, and I believe are looking at other works to producer – not just within in the Disney cannon.

Sounds so exciting! This is one of my favorite movies and a musical version sounds beautiful. I don’t mind that they stick to musicals. It’s what they do well. What other company out there has done as many successful musical films in recent history. But they’re not really as well known for winning the Oscar for best screen play. Also, few film-to-play examples have worked. It’s usually the other way around, plays turning into film. But we are still in the height of the film-to-musical boom.

This charming film fulfills the fantasy of innumerable writers, directors, actors, and English professors. What do all of these people have in common? They all love Shakespeare! And wouldn’t it be great to be there at the source, and witness the true inspiration for Romeo and Juliet and be present at the very first performance, before everybody already knew what the ending was? Wow! In my opinion, Gwyneth Paltrow actually deserved the Oscar she won as Shakespeare’s fictional love interest, Viola de Lesseps.